PPDS, the exclusive global provider of Philips professional displays, is delighted to announce the official launch of its Wave ecosystem. The new, scalable and secure, state-of-the-art cloud platform is complemented with a dedicated ProStore marketplace for premium PPDS and certified development partner applications, all fully proven to integrate with Philips professional displays, while supporting a variety of use cases across industries including retail, education, corporate and hospitality.
Demonstrated publicly for the first time at ISE on Philips booth (3P600), this evolutionary cloud ecosystem, which has been meticulously developed to extend and enhance the power of Philips digital signage, interactive displays and professional TVs with Android SoC, has been the subject of extensive live trials and factfinding meetings with valued partners, developers and end customers situated around the world. The result brings a fresh and future proofed approach, allowing system integrators and customers to control display fleets of any size, monitoring and controlling multiple displays at the same time, and for developers to easily access unique professional display features across different device platforms.
Sian Rees, Global Product Manager Solutions at PPDS, leading the development of Wave, commented: “The way businesses wish to control, manage and monitor their digital displays and devices has evolved significantly in recent years, with remote capabilities and digital display managed services now becoming a necessity. As a part of one of the largest display manufacturers in the world, we understand the importance of bringing solutions to market that can be integrated, installed and maintained to maximise the customer experience. PPDS Wave brings benefits for both system integrators and business customers in abundance, while also increasing the opportunity for more sustainably focused business, reducing the inefficiencies and fuel consumption of costly truck rolls, as well as optimising display performance and power usage.
“We spoke with integration partners, installers, developers and users globally about the challenges, barriers and frustrations they experience. It was clear that, to empower customers with the full potential of our Philips professional displays, we needed total solutions that combine exceptional software with the best display hardware. That is why we have created PPDS Wave, a state-of-the-art platform that delivers the latest technologies to integrate, install and maintain our devices. Remotely, securely and sustainably.”
New features, new opportunities – access to all
Available now in Europe, and trialling in North America and Asia Pacific for official release later this year, the new-for-2023 updates include the launch of PPDS Wave Controller, a state-of-the-art cloud-based remote device management application with flexible subscription options to meet the needs of each unique business, while giving the opportunity to use the platform to all.
This includes a ‘Lite’, free-to-use subscription for an unlimited number of displays, with access to basic display settings, remote management and PPDS ProStore premium applications. For larger professional display fleets, the new ‘Essential’ paid subscription is recommended, featuring bulk actions and one-to-many control, API access and power scheduling, as well as new features for predictive maintenance and automated setup. In addition, there will be an add-on for custom application management and distribution, allowing system integrators to choose the total solution that best suits their business needs.
Sian said: “Making sure all of our customers – both those buying new Philips professional displays and those with existing displays powered by Android 7 and above – have the opportunity to benefit from PPDS Wave was important to us from the beginning of the platform’s development. With our Lite, free-to-use subscription, this ambition is realised.”
Speaking about the new platform, Joni Korhonen from VisualService Finland Oy, who is already using PPDS Wave, said: “It has been a great advantage to our business to trial PPDS Wave ahead of its official launch. We needed to have easy remote maintenance for customers’ displays. PPDS Wave is an excellent tool for monitoring the scenery of all displays. We can easily check that everything is working.”
Saving energy, cutting costs
In a continuing climate of rising energy prices, Wave Controller will also play a pivotal role in PPDS’ commitment to delivering environmentally conscious, sustainable solutions, while also helping to reduce total cost of ownership with energy efficiency opportunities and extended product lifetimes, too.
Connecting with the features built into the hardware Philips professional displays, PPDS Wave also allows users to use power scheduling for their displays to automatically power down when not in use, for instance outside of opening hours. Brightness can be adjusted intelligently, based on the lighting conditions, again supporting energy savings and extended product lifetimes.
The right solution for your business
Wave Controller will be pre-installed on all compatible display hardware beginning in 2023, while applications such as PPDS Wave Creator, together with certified premium professional applications from our network of development partners, can now be found in the PPDS ProStore, a brand-new ‘one-stop digital marketplace’.
Removing limitations and concerns around compatibility, applications available via the PPDS ProStore are all certified for use on Philips professional displays, and can be selected, and remotely distributed and installed, using Wave Controller Lite or Essential subscriptions.
Further helping customers to access the right solutions for their business, PPDS is pleased to announce new ProStore partnerships with Navori, NoviSign, NowSignage, Skykit, and Telelogos, among others, allowing integrators to install and use their integrated solutions with Philips professional displays, based on customers’ unique business requirements.
PPDS Wave Creator, a new fundamental Content Management System (CMS), has been developed delivering easy content scheduling and simple template creation. Wave Creator will also be available on the PPDS ProStore for fully remote installation, sitting alongside premium applications from our development partners offering different and unique applications supporting varied business needs.
With PPDS Wave’s API first approach, both new and existing developers can design and configure their solutions to work seamlessly on Philips professional displays, with the platform allowing for rigorous testing to ensure the best possible user experience. The ProStore allows for automatic updates to be provided and made available to users, which can be instantly pushed to either isolated or groups of displays.
PPDS Wave is currently available on selected Philips digital signage and interactive SoC displays with Android 7 and above, including the Philips D-Line, Q-Line and S-Line digital displays, the Philips B-Line business TV and the Philips C-Line and T-Line interactive models. More exciting announcements around compatibility with other
product categories, including dvLED and professional TVs, and for use in specific verticals, will be announced shortly – stay tuned!
Sian concluded: “With the PPDS Wave platform we have a solid foundation to take our customers to the next level of performance and integrations with our Philips professional displays. Looking forward, we will continue to work closely with our channel and development partners to make our displays smarter, easier to work with and maintain, as well as more sustainable. Digital signage managed services at their best. PPDS Wave is a key part of our total solutions strategy and it is incredibly exciting, and a privilege to help bring such a cohesive and empowering solution to our industry.”
Martijn van der Woude, VP Global Marketing and Business Development at PPDS added: “This is an incredibly important day for PPDS, with Wave playing a pivotal role in our strategy and in supporting our customers’ sustainable businesses into the future. ISE 2022 was a taste of things to come with Wave and, at ISE 2023, we’re ready to bring this transformational platform to the masses. With new partnerships, new features and new capabilities being added on an almost daily basis, this really is just the beginnin
